Fake Smiles
by MakiZanaX13
Summary: Human Turtles/Fem!Mikey AU She was meant to be the happy one of the bunch, the one to bring hope in unfortunate times. But she isn't. Instead she's a shell on the verge of breaking to a million pieces. Her brothers don't realise it until their worst enemy decides to take the advantage. They must race against the clock to save her from being pulled into the darkness forever.
1. Shattered

**Maki:** Hi all, it's me again with a new TMNT fanfic which so happens to be another humanised turtles plus female Mikey one. I apologise if you don't seem to like the concept of it but I'm hooked whenever I do it. Perhaps it's my obsession with gender bending characters, including my favourites. In this case, Mikey. I don't feel comfortable having my GBed characters having their original names, so here Mikey's name will be changed to something more feminine. Also the fic will often switch from normal POV to mostly fem!Mikey's through the duration of it but will change to other character's POVs at times to make it even. Well please enjoy.

**WARNINGS: **Alternative Universe, Non-Canon, Human Turtles, Genderbend, OOCness, OCs, Mild violence, cursing and dark themes. Don't like? Don't read!

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. All Rights are the property of Kevin Eastman, Peter Laird and Mirage Studios. I only own my OCs and the plot.

**Summary:** Human Turtles/Fem!Mikey AU She was meant to be the happy one of the bunch, the one to bring hope in unfortunate times. But she isn't. Instead she's a shell on the verge of breaking to a million pieces. Her brothers don't realise it until their worst enemy decides to take the advantage. They must race against the clock to save her from being pulled into the darkness forever.

* * *

**Fake Smiles**

**Chapter 1: Shattered**

"Kayla~"

Michaela resisted the urge to bang her head against the table, she knew that voice from anywhere. Shutting the book she was peacefully reading and whipped her head into the direction of the voice – Emma waved her hand as she bounced up and down on her heels. Next to the bubbly girl were Claire and Tori who smiled nonchalantly.

"Hey guys, what's up?" Michaela asked, swinging her legs over the bench to meet the girls.

"I found it! I found the perfect guy for you!" she cried happily.

The latter sighed, clearly understanding where this was going. "Emma listen to me, we've been through this. You know as well as I do it's not that I can have a boyfriend, I can't!"

"You're just modest." A hand gripped Emma's shoulder, causing her to face Claire.

"C'mon Em, leave the poor girl alone will you?"

"Yeah, this conversation is getting old. No offence, it's irritating us." Tori added.

She sulked in defeat. "Fine… one of these days Kayla, I'll make sure to get the right guy for you!"

"That will be a day to remember." Michaela replied.

Emma released a loud holler as she pumped a fist in to the air. Claire smiled fondly at this then crooked her head to Michaela. "See you at class then?"

"You can count on it."

Claire nodded subsequently to leading Emma somewhere else. When they were out of hearing range Tori slumped beside Michaela on the bench. "Remind me again why you invited Emma to join our group?"

"She was lonely and needed a friend, simple as that."

"You're too nice for your own good."

"And you're cold."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Tori demanded.

Michaela giggled. "Nothing. Doing anything this weekend?"

"Nothing except hang out with Chris to see the latest movie on Saturday night; he said it was supposed to be a decent martial arts movie after he saw the trailer on the internet. You are keen on these types of movies, wanna come?"

"Sorry, night patrol."

"Your family takes it seriously don't they?"

"Mostly Leo and Master Splinter but yeah they do." She corrected.

"Is that so? In any case if those boys decide to give you a hard time, you can always count on me to kick their butts!" Tori declared, jerking a thumb towards her chest.

"Thanks Tori, you are a true friend."

"So are you Kayla." She stretched then stood. "Later!"

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*Michaela's POV*

I watched as Tori left me at the picnic table where I sat in the duration of lunch. Then I noted the bell was ringing shortly so I should probably head off as soon as possible.

Emma, Claire and Tori are few of the girls in my grade that I consider actual friends. The purpose others wanted to be my friends is that they wanted me to introduce them to my three elder brothers; Leonardo, Raphael and Donatello. Tori was the first to notice my dilemma and decided to step in, acting like my chaperon to ward off the girls that were clinging to me.

I realised we had similar interests and our friendship hits right off the bat. I admit she was a cool girl to be with. So were Emma and Claire, more Claire then Emma but still.

At least it's better than having no friends at all.

Oh yeah! I forgot to introduce myself. Anyhow, I'm Michaela Hamato, fourteen years old, native of New York City and a freshman in high school. As you can tell from earlier I'm the youngest of four and unfortunately the sole female, this is why many girls are envious of me. Can't blame them though as it was merely a natural occurrence by Mother Nature herself.

Speaking of which, another was I was fairly independent and mature for someone my age. The reason was our mother died seconds after I was born. Our father, Master Splinter as we called him, was old friends with mom. He travelled from his homeland of Japan in concern for mom when she fell ill.

When mom died, my brothers were told she begged Master Splinter that if anything was to happen to her, he must take us under his charge. I didn't recall it well hence why I was just born at that moment; yet when I got a little older, around eight or nine I think, they told me the whole story.

I was originally confused till the realisation dawned on me when I slowly felt fresh tears brimming in my eyes. My brothers and Master Splinter comforted me as I continued to cry for some hours.

Since then, I'd barely understood what a mother's touch or love was like. Although Leo and the guys do compliment that I act like to one… whatever that means. Occasionally I feel jealous of them because they met mom before I was able to.

Then there's the part where I might wonder I'm actually the cause of mom's death.

If… if that was true, that will mean they will hate me; my brothers and Master Splinter.

I'd be an unwanted child.

No! I don't want that! Not now, not ever!

Guess I will wait to find out, someday hopefully.

* * *

*Normal POV*

Soon enough the final bell rang for the end of the day and Michaela eventually met her brothers at Leonardo's car as he was the only one at the legal driving age. He was the eldest at 18 with shoulder length jet black hair and dark blue eyes wearing a blue polo shirt, grey slacks and electric-blue canvas shoes. In Splinter's eyes, Leo was the perfect son and succeeded at nearly everything. He had that sort of air surrounding him that made many girls fall to his feet.

Raphael was one year younger than Leonardo and they were in the same grade in high school but in different classes. He was tanned and muscled with spiky dark brown hair and green eyes wearing a black tank top, a red leather jacket, camo shorts and brown boots. Raph was rebellious and relies on instinct rather than thinking which leads him into trouble.

The annoying part about these two was that their personalities clashed frequently. And it had everyone else to deal with it.

Donatello came third at 15 years of age. He was intelligent and topped all of his classes thanks to his enthusiasm at constantly wanting to study. Don had shoulder blade length curly brown hair and hazel green eyes wearing a white t-shirt, a sleeveless violet blue sweater, khaki cargo pants and purple converse shoes.

Michaela herself had waist length blonde hair held up by twin orange ribbons and baby blue eyes wearing an off shoulder coral halter top, denim shorts, white knee high socks and orange ballet flats.

The ride home took no longer than the average fifteen to twenty minutes on the usual route, twenty five minutes on the alternative route if something were to ensue such as an accident or heavy traffic. Leo was responsible and knew what to do, so they managed to get home in the end.

During the trip home, Michaela grew tired then fell asleep on Donatello's shoulder after having a tiring day. He didn't mind and proceeded to stroke his fingers in her blonde tresses. Raphael turned his head around briefly, his normal hard-edged eyes softened at the sight.

He chuckled silently. "Someone's peaceful."

"She had a big day. I bet you did too Raph." Donnie muttered.

"No kidding."

"It was great that you didn't get detention again," remarked Leonardo. "You were lucky I was there to stop you."

"Say that once more and I'll-"

"Guys! Please knock it off."

"Sorry."

The rest of the ride was in silence until they arrived home. Leo parked the car in the garage and unbuckled his seat belt to get out as did his brothers. He went to Michaela's door behind his, doing the same procedure earlier to snaking an arm on her back and moved the other under her knees, picking her up in a fireman's hold.

Raphael wondered to the boot, grabbing everyone's bags including his own. He chucked Donatello his backpack and the brunette hastily caught it. Don glared at him.

"H-Hey, careful! My laptop's in that bag. I would've lost an amount of data if you weren't so careless!"

"Data, schmata! Be glad that you got it."

"Would guys ever so kindly as in to knock it off?" Leo scolded in a hushed tone.

Michaela stirred in his arms as her baby blue orbs cracked open, locking contact with Leonardo's deep-hued ones.

He winked. "Hey sleepyhead."

"Hey." She covered her mouth yawning when he let her down and caught her bag the minute Raphael threw it at her. Leonardo got his as they finally walked through the doors of their home to be greeted by a Japanese man in his late forties to early fifties with shaggy greyish black hair, thick eyebrows and dark brown eyes wearing a traditional red yukata, a brown coat and matching brown sandals carrying a wooden walking stick. "Father!"

Splinter's lips tugged into a smile. "Welcome home."

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Donatello pushed the chair away from his computer, folding his arms across his chest with a sigh. With the increased declining of gang violence in the city made him worry about the Purple Dragons activities. And if the Purple Dragons were inactive also meant the Foot Clan were acting awfully quiet.

So in order to keep tabs on both syndicates he'd organised a database on the computer that updated their activities on a regular basis.

He gazed at the ceiling and mentally cursed; damn it! This was going nowhere. Unless they had any proof of evidence that they were still active then they won't know whenever either association is planning to strike first.

Thank God they have night patrol in two days' time.

Donnie leaves his room and headed towards the kitchen. With all this continual researching, it was giving him a headache. He hadn't had a nice coffee in a while so with a bit of luck it could help calm his nerves. The sound of running water in the shower he walked by indicated that someone was having a shower. Don groaned. Whoever was in there better not use it too excessively otherwise it will end up with him paying a huge bill and he didn't want that.

The stairs connected to the foyer downstairs was a few seconds ahead and the room via the archway on the left was the kitchen. He was intended to go down when he spotted the door to the room he passed was open. Having lived here for a number of years, Donatello easily recognised that room belonged to Michaela.

"Odd, why is her door…" curiously he retraced his steps and went to Michaela's room. The brunette tilted his head sideways when he noticed his younger sister sitting at her desk staring at the two photographs on it.

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*Michaela's POV*

When we arrived home I went to my room to start on my homework, too bad that I don't like it as much as Donnie does. My brain wasn't functioned to stand it and I'm pretty sure Raph feels the same. He'd be kicking Purple Dragon butt in placement of doing his homework. No wonder his grades are low.

The Purple Dragons… those big bullies have been in hiding lately. I don't know why however I have a feeling their up to something huge. And as they take direct orders of the Shredder it's definitely not a good sign.

I shuddered at that name; the Shredder. Ugh, it makes my skin crawl any time I think of that tin head. Our family has been at war with him for a period of time now and all of us were anxious when we originally heard that he suddenly went off the face of the Earth or New York City in particular.

Placing my pen on top of my writing book, I swivelled my head to the photographs that were beside my book. The first was one that showed my brothers and me with Master Splinter when we began our ninjutsu training. The second was recent and had us together with three of our new friends – April O'Neil, Casey Jones and Angel, a girl that Casey knew in the neighbourhood who became a friend of ours.

"Kayla?"

Startled at the all too familiar voice I looked at the door and smiled wearily. "Oh, hey Donnie."

He jerked a thumb at my door. "You left your door open."

"Oops, sorry I forgot." I apologised.

"I see. You okay? You don't seem well."

"Uh i-it's nothing I'm fine."

Donnie raised an eyebrow suspiciously. "You sure?"

"Yeah, it's alright. Maybe I'm a little tired."

"Then you should probably go to bed early tonight." He suggested.

"Probably." I repeated, rubbing the back of my head. "Why are you in my room anyways?"

"I was gonna get some coffee, I hadn't had one yet." My face blanched. Uh oh. Seeing Donnie in the kitchen was just as worse as the Shredder on a raid in the city. He might be smart but he sure in hell can't cook not even to save his life.

I myself was interested in the skill when I was in elementary school and got a little better at it each time I studied. That's why they put me in charge when it comes to cooking most of the time. Leo would either assist or switch roles when I was busy with other issues. Raph on the other hand, well he doesn't appeared to be bothered despite the fact he was decent at it.

"Remember to follow the instructions _properly_." I told him. He performed a mock salute.

"Yes mom."

"Good. Scat!"

I frowned once Donnie leaves my room and glanced at my hands that were folded in my lap sadly. "Mom… it's not fair. Why wasn't I allowed to meet you before you died?"

A lone tear trickled from the corner of my eye and dispersed when it met the carpet-covered floor as the only response I got was silence.

* * *

**Maki:** There! First chapter done and out of the way! Oh yeah, another reason why I'm doing a human turtles fic is because I like the idea of them being teenagers dealing with high school life and fighting the Shredder at the same time. Speaking of which, I don't know when I will have my first fic updated again but hopefully it will be sometime in the near future.


	2. Unravelling Emotions

**Maki:** Oh my God! I'm terribly sorry for leaving this fic un-updated for a very long time. I really tried to get it updated, but I was distracted with a lot of things such as my TAFE studies and work. But nonetheless I finally got this chapter completed despite the fact it took me ages to do so. Anyways, enjoy!

**WARNINGS: **Alternative Universe, Non-Canon, Human Turtles, Genderbend, OOCness, OCs, Mild violence, cursing and dark themes. Don't like? Don't read!

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. All Rights are the property of Kevin Eastman, Peter Laird and Mirage Studios. I only own my OCs and the plot.

* * *

**Chapter 2: Unravelling Emotions **

A groan escaped my mouth as soon as I woke up with frustration clearly written on my face. Damn it… of all people why did it have to be me?

My hand blindly searched for the switch that turns on my bedside lamp. Ten seconds later I found it and flicked it, causing light to envelope my room. I was forced to squint my eyes shut shortly after since the light was hurting them.

When it was safe for my eyes to re-open, I left my bed and stare at the mirror rooted on the wall with a frown.

The last three weeks, now almost a month, I had felt nothing but being strained and tired. I don't remember how it started. All I know is that it is going for a while and I'm getting pretty annoyed at it because it wasn't leaving me.

Ever so quietly I tip-toed out of my room then down the stairs; not wanting to wake up my brothers or Master Splinter, who are sleeping in their own rooms.

A small gust of wind brushed through my hair the minute I walked outside into the backyard, noticing the moon illuminating the fish pond a few metres away from me as I stood on the porch. So it's still night…

Perhaps the fighting with the Shredder is what's making me exhausted. He has been hunting us, we chased him. It's like a game of cat and mouse only the roles of who's what switching frequently depending on which situation we were in. That man's a demon who lusts for conquest were as we seek justice. Each of us have our own opinions and he took one that led him to be who he was today. All for a family feud he didn't win.

Why… why is having a family so complicated? Surely there are issues when your parents or siblings are thrown into fights over something one or the other caused yet why do I feel pain inside whenever I think of this? I mean, I do love my family it's that I…

I broke out of my thoughts when I jumped as someone tapped my shoulder with a finger then turned to the one who did it.

"You're gonna catch a cold if you stay out here too long." He teased.

I lightly swatted his hand. "Ha, ha, very funny Leo besides it's not _that_ cold… How long was I out here for?"

"No less than fifteen minutes. But why are you out here?"

Oh brother, should I tell him that I was thinking about the Shredder?

"Uh… I-I was… thinking, that's all." I answered.

Leo raised an eyebrow before sighing. "Is that so? Well don't take too long, okay?"

"Sure," I covered my mouth with my hand as I yawned. "I'm heading back to bed."

I began to return to my room when he spoke, his voice slightly serious. "Kayla, remember we're a family. And secrets shouldn't be kept hidden between us."

"I know. G'night Leo."

"Yeah, night."

I dunno, I was probably just thinking too hard. If I forget, then it will go away.

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The next day came quicker than expected and it was the afternoon again. I was strolling in the streets carrying a shopping bag in one of my hands as the other held a piece of paper that was actually a shopping list. We had run out a couple of items at home so I took the offer to buy them.

I didn't mind at all as I usually do this particular routine.

Wondering into the nearest store that wasn't fully crowded compared to the amount I've already seen, I grabbed the necessary items as instructed on the list then to the counter where the clerk was situated once done.

When I arrived, the woman gave me a questioning look.

"Is something wrong ma'am?" I asked, curious as to why she was staring at me like that.

"N-No nothing's wrong," she hastily replied as I placed the items on the counter. "Okay, maybe there is."

I giggled. "It's alright, I won't bite. Ask away."

"Well… it's not often I see a girl as young as you doing this kind of shopping." She said. I caught her meaning.

"That's true."

"No offence or anything, but you don't mind if I ask; where's your mother?"

I gazed at the floor, smiling sadly. "I'm sorry. She passed away after I was born."

"Oh! My apologies, I didn't mean to be rude." She apologised.

"Nah, don't be. I get it all the time."

"I see." She handed me the items in a plastic bag when she finished checking them. "Here you go, that's $32.60, cash or credit?"

I dug my hand into my pocket and pulled out the money, counting it until giving it to her. She responded by providing me the receipt and change. "Have a good day."

Taking the bag from the counter, I waved goodbye to the woman as I was leaving the store.

"Kayla?" Turning my head, I beamed – it was a young woman with green eyes and red hair in a bun that had a set of bangs hanging out. Her clothes consisted of a black V-neck shirt, a beige jacket with rolled up sleeves, a pair of jeans with a belt fitted around the waist and low-heeled brown shoes.

"April!" I exclaimed, running to the older girl.

"I see you went out shopping," she remarked.

I nodded. "Tell me about it."

April shook her head sympathetically. "Then why don't we go get some ice-cream so you can take a break? My treat."

"You mean it?"

"Of course, that's what friends are for."

God, I really love this girl. April was one of the few other people alongside Tori who I can reconcile with despite that she was a number of years older than me. My brothers and I originally met her when she was a scientist working for another known as Baxter Stockman till she found out he was using his creations called Mousers to rob banks and such instead of fixing the city rat problems like he was meant to.

Luckily we came to her rescue in the nick of time and help rid of Stockman's plans. She was grateful when we revealed our identities to her, promising not to tell anyone about our ninja persona if she kept it secret.

"Fine, let's go." I said. April clasped her hands together in agreement.

"Great! I know just the place, follow me."

* * *

*Normal POV*

Meanwhile Raphael was lounging at home, probably waiting for Michaela to come back from her shopping trip. He was slightly ticked off that Splinter allowed his baby sister to venture in the city alone, however she did reassure him that it was okay and merely going to take a short time. After all she had done it many times beforehand.

But that didn't settle his restlessness. Like his brothers, they all feel protective whenever they were around Michaela, whether it was in public or not.

He remembered it vaguely – it was a number of years ago when he was a kid, probably no older than three, which was exactly a year after Donatello was born that their mother fell ill all of a sudden. And from what their neighbours told them once they realised what caused her illness, it was a serious issue so she was ordered to go to the hospital.

By the time they reached the hospital, the illness escalated the instant a herd of doctors' swarm into the waiting room with a gurney that she was placed on up to being moved to one of the emergency rooms.

Someone, who was apparently a good friend with their mother, opted to stay with the boys and take care of them as their mother was in surgery. And that person happened to be Master Splinter himself. How he was aware of their mother's illness they didn't know, then again even though he was a stranger to them Leonardo seemed to understand his intentions and instructed his younger brothers to stay by him while waiting for news of their mother.

Eventually a doctor emerged from the emergency room. Raphael had a protective hold on Donnie as the man walked to them, holding something really surprising in his arms – a newborn child.

What was even more surprising was that the baby was a girl. They were excited on having another sibling yet Master Splinter was uncertain and asked the question. What he got was unexpected and devastating not to mention it had a big impact on the brothers.

"_I apologise, but your mother… she didn't make it."_

"Raph?"

He wipes a few tears away when an all too familiar voice broke him from his thoughts and swivels his head towards the stairs. "What do you want now, Leo?"

Leonardo gazed at his younger brother amusingly. "Don't tell me you are waiting for Kayla again, were you?"

"N-No I'm not… I… Fine, I am. Is there a problem with that?" Raphael asked.

He sighed and descended down the stairs. "Honestly Raph, with the way your acting don't you think you're a little overprotective of her?"

"Look who's talking."

"I care about her as much as I do with you and Donnie. There's nothing wrong with that."

Raph snorted. "Right, remember the time she got involved in an accident five years ago? You nearly lost your marbles because of that."

"That was an entirely different situation, and she was young back then too." Leo said. "Now she's at the age where she can act on her own. That's what Master Splinter said anyways."

"You always agree on what Master Splinter says, don't you?"

Before Leonardo could speak, a sound blared from the brunette's pocket. Digging his hand into it, Raphael pulled out his phone to answer.

"_Yo! What's up man?_" the voice spoke out in a Brooklyn accent.

He raised an eyebrow. "Casey?"

"_Yep, that's me. Hey, you're not doing anything at the moment are you?_"

Raph paused briefly to give a quick glance at Leonardo. The latter smiled and waved his hand as if it was to give some sort of signal. He nodded then went back to the phone. "I don't think so, why?"

"_Don't mind coming over to my place? I got a few friends that I want you to meet._" Casey answered.

"Alright." He replied.

"_Awesome! See you then!_"

"Yeah, see ya then Casey." The call ended prior to him glaring at his older brother. "This is just to get my mind of Kayla isn't it?"

"If you put it that way… so what is it?"

"He wanted me to meet some of his friends. Don't know why though."

"I think it's a good opportunity seeing how you don't get along well with that many people."

Raphael growled. "Don't even go there."

Leonardo shot his hands up in a defensive manner. "Okay, okay! I'll go and let Don and Master Splinter know you will be out."

"Fine." The brunette then moved to grab his favourite red jacket, which was lying on the lounge, and put it on. "See you Leo."

"Yeah, bye Raph."

He smiled shortly until he walked out of the door, shutting it in the process.

* * *

*Michaela's POV*

I smiled as I took a bite out of my chocolate filled ice-cream. "This is amazing, April. Where did you find this parlour?"

"A customer at my antique shop told me. She said it just opened last week." She said as she took a bite out of her own one which is a mint-flavoured type.

Putting the cup on the table, I looked over my shoulder to see that the parlour was getting crowded by the minute. "And yet it's getting really popular."

"No kidding. I had a feeling this place was going to get popular and it seems I'm right."

I suddenly frowned as I sat back down. "I kinda feel guilty for not telling the guys, maybe I should by a box of ice-cream and bring it home to them."

"I think that's a wonderful idea." April said.

"Okay." After finishing off my ice-cream, I was ready to go and buy some more when the door opened followed by a couple of shady guys stepping in. "Uh oh, we got trouble."

April noticed it as well and immediately rose from her seat to stand next to me. We watched in apprehension as one of the men roughly shoved a little boy in front of him who landed on his rear. I ran to the boy and got on my knees, placing a comforting hand on his shoulder. "Are you okay?" I asked gently, noticing tears spring from his eyes.

He didn't answer due to the light pain that ran through his body, but that one nod was all I needed to convince me that he wasn't hurt.

"Hey, I saw that!"

I saw April march up to the men, obvious to the anger in her voice. Then again it was merely just pretending. The real deal doesn't happen unless it's something serious whereas this was only a minor situation. Everything went silent when the men sent their attention to us, or to April for the matter.

"You pushed that kid over didn't you? Apologise to him this instant!" she demanded.

"Or what? Hand us over to the police?" one of them asked.

"Well… yeah!"

I facepalmed at the ridiculous response. "Really April? You could've thought of something less original other than that!"

"What else am I going to say, huh?" She shot back.

A drop of sweat formed on the back of my head. She had a point there.

"Although." One of the men behind April grabbed her wrist, forcing her to turn around to face him. "You're kinda cute. Why don't you come and hang out with me and my mates some time?"

April made a disgusted face. "Fat chance, no way will I go out with someone like you!"

"Are you sure?"

While the man continued to offer April a chance to go out with him, I scanned the parlour for anything I could use to prevent them from going any further. Shifting my eyes to the left again, I spotted a glass of water on a nearby vacant table. That's when an idea lit up in my head.

I grinned and grabbed the boy's attention, making him stare at me in confusion as I jerked a thumb towards the glass. "Watch this."

I quickly ran to grab the glass off the table then snuck up behind the man holding April and tapped his shoulder. He swivelled his head and glared at me. "What?"

"Sorry but she's off the menu!" That said I threw the water at his face as bits of the substance made contact with his eyes.

"What in the-!"

With no time to spare I ducked below and slip off his pants, revealing his girly boxers. Then I bent down to tie his shoe laces together. During the process, he was able to lose his grip on April and let go of her. As April stumbled backwards, I darted away and assist her in standing back up. Thanks to that laughter echoed throughout the entire parlour.

When his vision cleared, he growled in a menacing voice. "Why you little… you will pay for that!"

"I would look in a mirror if I were you." I pointed out, giggling lightly.

"Huh?" he glanced down, face turning red as a tomato due to embarrassment at the sight of his boxers being revealed to the public.

"Hey guys, I think we should book it before we cause any more trouble." Another one of the men suggested to his group.

The first man snorted. "Alright boys, get going. Now."

They all started to leave. But before the first man could leave himself, he toppled over onto the floor with a loud thud. I put my hands on my hips as the laughter gotten even louder. "And that's payback for the boy."

"Grr… I will remember this!" He shouted as he was being dragged off by his comrades.

The laughter eventually died down and everything slowly returned to normal. A few people even congratulated me and April for standing up against those thugs prior to leaving the parlour.

"When did you learn that Kayla?" April asked.

I blinked owlishly, tilting my head to the side. "Learn what?"

"That thing with the boxers and shoe laces."

"Oh, that! I've seen it happen to Raph once. Not the boxers, but the shoe laces so I thought that I could try it out. As for the boxers I just did that for the fun of it." I answered.

"Oh… I've been wondering though, if you were a boy you would've acted differently to the situation." She said.

I huffed, folding my arms over my chest. "Do I look like one to you?"

"Not even the slightest."

I let my shoulders relax, knowing well she didn't mean that.

"Mommy!"

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*Normal POV*

Michaela stiffened as the little boy ran to a woman who suddenly entered the parlour. "Goodness me, I thought something bad happened when I heard a strange sound outside. I thought I told you to stay with me."

The boy rubbed his head sheepishly. "I'm sorry."

She shook her head. "Whatever, at least you're not hurt. That's all what matters."

"You should've seen it mommy! There was this lady who helped me from a bunch of big bullies and-" he turned around. "She's not here…"

April then realised Michaela wasn't in the parlour anymore. _She was here a minute ago, where did she ran off to?_ She thought until looking back at the pair. "I'm sorry, I think she went home. But she's probably grateful for lending you a hand."

"Oh… if that's the case, can you tell her I said thank you whenever you see her next time?" he asked.

She winked at him. "Sure, I'll be happy to do that."

"Yay! Thank you so much lady!"

"No problem." Once April waved goodbye to the boy and his mother, she ran out of the parlour in search of Michaela who went missing all of a sudden. "Where did she go?"

It took her almost fifteen minutes running around the street trying to find her blonde-haired friend. Eventually she spotted said teen leaning against the wall of a jewellery shop. Her head was down with bangs covering her eyes.

"There you are, Kayla. I've been looking all over for you." April walked towards her and placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Huh?" Michaela jerked her head up to see the other stare at her. "Oh, April it's you."

"What's wrong? Why did you suddenly take off like that?"

"I'm sorry, I wasn't thinking straight. Guess I'm just tired." She answered. "I should probably head on home."

"Yeah, but first we should grab your shopping bags. You can't go back empty handed."

"… You're right. And April?"

"Yes?"

"Thank you… for being my friend."

April smiled. "You're welcome."

* * *

**Maki:** Well, that's the end of this chapter. I'm sorry if the ending or anything throughout the chapter felt rushed, I was desperate in completing this one since it had been bugging me greatly. If you see any typo or grammar errors, please feel free to inform me and I'll get on to them as soon as possible. And just before I go, I'd like to inform everyone that the following chapter will be the one were all the action begins. That said, I bid you all a farewell and see you in the next chapter.


End file.
